Tie rod dust boot?

[Westtown Willy]

when I installed my tie rod I greased the fittings & maybe a week or so later I noticed it leaked out of one of the ends & that the boot was deflated. I shot some more in yesterday & noticed it all spooged out pretty much immediately, & didn't inflate the boot at all. I'm not 100% sure how these things are supposed to be attached & my question is do I order a new one or might this one be salvageable? I'd take it apart today & mess with it but I'm heading to the mountains on Saturday & I'd rather not disassemble it only to have to re-do it next week which is about the earliest I can get a new one...

 

[Rob5589]

Boot looks torn. Probably a good idea to replace the tre so it does not get contaminated.

 

[JMT]

when I installed my tie rod I greased the fittings & maybe a week or so later I noticed it leaked out of one of the ends & that the boot was deflated. I shot some more in yesterday & noticed it all spooged out pretty much immediately, & didn't inflate the boot at all. I'm not 100% sure how these things are supposed to be attached & my question is do I order a new one or might this one be salvageable? I'd take it apart today & mess with it but I'm heading to the mountains on Saturday & I'd rather not disassemble it only to have to re-do it next week which is about the earliest I can get a new one...

View attachment 52556 View attachment 52557

FYI, if those are stock boots, they can be overfilled and blow. Don’t get over generous when you fill the new one.

 

[Westtown Willy]

ok so I couldn't leave it alone, popped the end off & it doesn't look torn, it looks like the lip of the boot is supposed to be secured under a wire clip around the top of the tie rod end & it popped out. Though I'm not sure how to get that wire clip off to stuff it back in (or to install a new boot). I'm assuming it is removable because Currie sells new boots alone but I don't want to do more harm than good by trying to yank this thing off, obviously trying to avoid buying a whole new tie rod end. Anyone ever take one of these apart?

 

[Westtown Willy]

crisis averted, grew a pair & dug the wire out; coudn't grab it with needle nose pliers as it's too small & tight, ended up getting ahold of the end of it with a finishing nail & pulled it out far enough to grab with the pliers. It wraps around the end twice so it's tough to get off. Part of what threw me was Currie's replacement is sold with a zip tie to anchor it down rather than telling you to reuse the metal wire so I was thinking maybe that's just a one-shot factory install. But, all's well that ends well, it's all back together & holding grease as it should - pumped a small mount of grease in & stopped, didn't want a repeat performance.

This is the one they sell:

This is the one I pulled out

then just pushed the boot back to where it's supposed to be

I think they probably suggest the zip tie because getting that wire back on without puncturing the boot seems like a low odds event hahaha, but if I can do it...

remounted & ready to go

hope this helps someone in the future

 

[Flib]

well there ya go!

 

[Chris]

Woohoo! Thanks for the update!

 

[JMT]

Nice work @Westtown Willy . That took some patience

 

[Westtown Willy]

Nice work @Westtown Willy . That took some patience

thanks, it's funny how these things go, I've been looking at that end since I first noticed the problem over a month ago & I just didn't want to deal with it. An incredibly simple problem to deal with, but only in hindsight. Eventually I'll be an accomplished mechanic, prolly around the time I'm eligible for Medicare